


Until The End

by anastiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Character Death, Death from Old Age, Growing Old Together, M/M, Mourning, Old Dean, Old Married Couple, character already dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 02:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1966089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anastiel/pseuds/anastiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, two souls can't stand to be separated even in death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until The End

The house is quiet, almost too quiet. A few hours earlier the halls and the cosy living room were filled with family and friends all dressed in black. Now only Dean remains. Sam was the last to go, with a tearful hug good-bye then out the door he went, wobbling down the sidewalk with his cane. There’s still platters of fruits and vegetables laying around in the kitchen and those little housewarming sausages that are customary on occasions like this. Dean should probably put them away, but he doesn’t want to. Putting things away will only remind him more of what, or rather who is missing.

His suit is mussed, wrinkled from comforting hands patting his shoulder and multiple teary-eyed hugs. There’s a coffee stain on his white shirt and a berry stain on his jacket. Thankfully, his blue tie remains clean and backwards, just how it should be. A few heartwarming gifts litter the couch, Dean supposes he could put those away as well, but there’s something he needs to do first. He places his hands on the wheels of his wheelchair and pushes himself down the hallway. His eyes are drawn to the pictures hanging on the wall, he shouldn’t look at those now, but it’s too late, tears are already rushing to his eyes.

The first picture he sees is of his wedding day. Cas is looking at him and Dean is looking at Cas, they’re smiling happily, hands clasped together. There’s so much love in both of their eyes a knot grows in Dean’s throat. Too soon. Cas looks so young there, even though he wasn’t. Dean was forty when they got married, but better late than never. Dean still remembers that day as clear as a bell. It wasn’t a big wedding, they didn’t have many friends at the time and only recently had stopped hunting. Sam was there of course, crying like the little baby he is. Jody showed up and even Charlie managed to get her way out of Oz. Dean told her she didn’t have to come but Charlie insisted, telling him she, “wouldn’t miss the most important wedding ever.” Dean thought she was ridiculous at the time but looking back, she was kinda right. It took ten years fighting against the powers of heaven and hell to finally bring them together. Ten years for Dean to let himself fall in love with his best friend. Ten years for Dean to finally decide to do something he wanted for once and allow happiness in the form of a certain fallen angel to be in his life.

Their wedding may have been a small affair but it was and still is the happiest day of Dean’s life.

Dean continues on, passing the pictures they took on their first anniversary, laughing at the one of Cas shoving a piece of cake into his face. Dean had frosting stuck in his hair for days after that. Then there’s the road trip they took across the country one summer, eating at diners and just driving with no destination. They stayed in whatever hotels they came across, some better than others. It was relaxing to be able to travel and not have to worry about a hunt. Sometimes they hunted, small things that popped up here and there but for the most part, Dean was done.

A smile graces Dean’s lips when he sees the picture of Cas holding Sam’s daughter, Mary. She had just been born a few hours ago when this picture was taken. Cas held the newborn in his arms and stared at her with a look so full of love and devotion. Dean remembers crying when he took the picture, not that he would admit that to anyone of course.

They’d thought about having kids but decided against it, partially due to their age but more because they knew what was out there and didn’t want to take the chance of something happening. Plus, they took care of Mary sometimes and she was enough.

The pictures start to age further down the hall. Their hair starts graying and wrinkles start popping up everywhere but the way Cas looks at him remains the same. He always, always stares at Dean as if he makes the sun rise and the mountains move. Now that Dean’s looking, really looking, he always looked at Cas that way too.

Dean rolls to a stop in front of the last and most recent picture. It was taken a few months ago on their forty-fifth wedding anniversary. He was still able to stand then and Cas was the one in the wheelchair. Despite Cas’s inability to walk and Dean’s aching bones, they both still looked so happy. They’re looking at each other - always looking at each other - their hands joined and soft smiles gracing their faces. Dean wonders how he ever got so lucky to have Cas. He never even thought he would get to have a life outside of hunting, but he did. He got forty-five glorious years with the love of his life and that’s more than he could have ever hoped for.

Dean wheels into their bedroom and towards the desk, purposefully avoiding looking at Cas’s side of the closet, where his clothes still hang. He rolls up a comfortable distance away from the wooden surface and locks his wheels. Leaning over slightly, he digs through a side-drawer until he finds a ballpoint pen. He places the pen on the desk and pulls open the top drawer, pulling out John Winchester’s journal. The leather covering has faded over the years, the rich brown fading to a light honey color; the pages yellowing and wrinkling at the tips. Dean opens the journal and flips all the way to the last page, the only empty page left. He takes in a deep breath, glancing around the room at all of Cas and his belongings before picking up the pen. Then, he begins to write.

_May 20th, 2063_

_I don’t know who will find this journal after I’ve died. Maybe it’ll be Sam, maybe Mary or maybe someone I’ll never have known. Whoever finds this, there’s something important you need to know. Three days ago at ten in the morning, the greatest man I have ever known and the love of my life took his final breath. You probably don’t understand why he or I or our story is important to you, especially if you aren’t part of my family, but trust me; this is important._

_Castiel Winchester rewrote the course of history with his love for me. I’m sure you’’re rolling your eyes, but... you don’t understand. Castiel wasn’t always a man, for millions of years he was an angel, he protected humanity and then I came along and fucked everything up for him. I don’t know why it was me, I never will, but the minute he first touched my soul in hell, something happened and that dumb ass angel decided that I was worth giving everything for._

_History won’t remember us. They’ll remember Sam and I, but they won’t remember Castiel and they should. Because he’s as much a part of me as Sam is. I want the world to know, how he saved me in every way imaginable. I want them to know how we fought and bled and finally at the end of all the battles and demons and angels, we finally found each other and happiness. History won’t remember that, but I hope someone will. I want someone to tell our story. Tell it to broken people to give them hope, to teach them about love and what love really is. It’s not lust, it’s not sappy or cute, it’s about sacrifice and loving someone more than you love yourself that you would lay down your life for them. That’s the kind of love we had and boy, was it something special._

_The previous pages of this journal have our story. I wrote it down because I don’t want anyone to forget. So whoever you are, read this, and tell it or publish it, whatever you think is best. Let the world know about us._

_The world needs to know that there was an angel who loved one man more than the entire universe and who saw the darkest parts of his soul and loved him still._

_Dean Winchester_

 

Dean takes a deep breath, placing the pen down onto the desk and closes the journal.  His fingers linger on the cover, tracing over the leather. Then, with a small smile he rolls away from the desk.

The sun is setting now, the last drips of golden light filtering in through the blinds in their bedroom. He suddenly feels tired, so very tired. It’s probably best if he goes to sleep now.

Dean wheels over to their closet. Using the wall to help him stand, he removes his suit and hangs it neatly in the closet next to Cas’s clothes. He changes into pajamas and then sits back down in his wheelchair. A tan piece of cloth in the corner of the closet catches his eye and he reaches for it, pulling the arm of Cas’s beloved trench coat out from the shadows. His fingers glide across the fabric reverently, remembering the thousands of times he’s seen Cas wear the trench coat. It was always Cas’s favorite coat and honestly, it was Dean’s favorite too.

He releases the sleeve and the coat falls back into the closet. Dean pauses, staring at all of their mingled things before sliding the doors shut and wheeling over to his bed.

There’s something that happens sometimes with couples who have been together for a long time, once one dies, the other isn’t far behind. It’s almost as if their souls can’t bear to be separated after being joined for so many years. Cas is gone and Dean knows it won’t be long before he is gone too, not long at all.

Dean shakily stands to his feet and climbs into bed, flicking off the lamp and pulling the blanket up around his shoulders. He releases a heavy sigh, eyes closing briefly. A sense of peace and calm is falling over him; he can feel his soul starting to slip away.

He opens his eyes one last time, raising them to the sky with a tearful smile.

“Don’t worry Cas, I’ll be there soon.”


End file.
